Exhibitions, tradeshows, fair, conventions, and such events play a crucial role in branding and marketing. An exhibitor can present their products/services to a highly targeted audience. Usually all exhibitions have a theme and topic, for example, some exhibitions are for technology, some are for real-estate, some are for medical, etc. This means that all the visitors would be closely connected to the niche and everyone could be a potential customer. Businesses participate in exhibitions to generate leads, showcase their brand, and connect with other business partners. Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions of UAE are tourist hotspot for the exhibitions and tourism, attracting millions of tourist and visitors every year. This makes these exhibitions more important and beneficial for businesses.
Every exhibitor have certain goals in their mind, whether it is for brand awareness or generating more leads or to expand business connections. The success depends on the alignment of your exhibition stand kiosk with your goals and objectives. Right exhibition stand kiosk is not to stand out of the crowd but it is to make an impact and achieve your strategic business goals. Businesses often feel overwhelmed with the sheer number of moving parts that contributes to building an effective exhibition stand kiosk. There are tons of materials to choose from, the designs, structure and branding make this decision more complex. In this blog we will discuss the key factors which will help businesses to choose the best exhibition stand kiosk for their next exhibition.
The Crucial Factor to Consider for an Effective Exhibition Stand Kiosk
Before we start discussing the crucial factors to consider while building your exhibition stand kiosk, it is also crucial to understand the importance of determining your goals and objectives. Businesses often neglect this fact and end-up having unrealistic goals. For example, if you are a tech firm participating in a tech exhibition and seeking reliable hardware suppliers and partners. In this hypothetical case, if you build your exhibition stand kiosk which is showcasing your products and your marketing material is scattered everywhere, you will most probably going to attract end users. But if you chose a nice, clean and spacious design, with an office like outlook, less vibrant, displaying your partners, vision, etc. You are most likely to attract other businesses. That is why it is extremely important to determine your goals first.
Start by asking yourself, what do you want to achieve? Are you going to display a new product, are you aiming to generate more leads, are you seeking business partners, or do you want to create brand awareness? Once you have clear goal now you are ready to choose the right exhibition kiosk stand which aligns with your goals. Here are some crucial factors to consider for an effective exhibition stand kiosk:
Set a Budget Cap for your Exhibition Stand Kiosk
Budget is one of the most crucial factor, as most of the time businesses tend to fail to set a budget cap, or even if they set a budget cap, they failed to align their expectations according to their budget. Once you have a budget limit in mind you can easily choose the right design, materials, size and everything else to align with your budgetary limitations. Moreover it is also important to account all other expenses, such as rent for the place in venue, shipping, installation, on-site services, and everything else.
Considering all these expenses will help you set a realistic budget cap for your exhibition stand kiosk. This will also prevent many problems down the road. Now there is one more thing to consider is the features, functionalities and material choice. Classify everything in three categories:
- Essential Design and Functionality Elements
- Additional Features (Optional)
- Non-essential Features for Aesthetic Enhancements
Essential design and functionality elements are the one without which you can’t work, then there are additional features, which are things which you should add but you can still proceed without those features. At the end consider those design elements, features or accessories which can add value but are not essential to operate. If you categorize all elements in these categories you would be in a better position to effectively utilize your budget for better outcome.
Choose Right Layouts and Design Structure
The size of your kiosk depends on the space allocated by the management. Since the rent/cost depends on the size of the space, so increasing the space is not a good option at this stage. All you need to understand is to choose right layout and design structure to effectively utilize the allocated space. Your exhibition stand kiosk should be able to encourage visitors to linger longer, this means the structure and layout you choose should be able to provide as much space for movement as possible.
The flow of traffic is most crucial aspect to consider, your layout should be able to accommodate multiple visitors at the same time. Incorporating zones for different activities could be very useful, for example, in one zone you can place interactive kiosk, in another zone you can put staff to directly interact, at a certain side you can place printed material or accommodate product demos, etc. This way you will be able to choose right design. It is also better to make 3D drawings before finalizing to ensure everything.
Choose the Right Material for Your Exhibition Stand Kiosk
The materials are most critical element of your exhibition stand kiosk. Materials will have huge impact on durability, aesthetics, and cost. Businesses often undermine the importance of materials and choose fancy or very expensive materials. However, the actual material choice should only be based on the design requirements and structural needs. It is better to use simple and commonly available materials while insuring the structural integrity and durability of your exhibition stand kiosk.
Here it is also important to consider modular materials and design elements for reconfiguring and effective branding. When choosing the right materials you should understand there are three major classification of materials:
- Flooring Materials
- Structure/Frame
- Finishing
Flooring Materials
There are three most common flooring materials which are common in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the UAE:
- Carpet Flooring: The carpet flooring is very cost-effective and can be placed directly on concrete floors at the exhibition site. You can find a wide range of carpet flooring at great rates in UAE.
- Melamine Flooring: When you have intensive electrical connections, or rough floors, you can choose melamine flooring. The melamine slightly protrude from the floor, it comes in a wide range of designs and it also offer good strength.
- Vinyl Flooring: The most cost-effective flooring material is the vinyl. There are two types of vinyl flooring, the vinyl rolls and vinyl planks. The only drawback is that is requires a flat surface.
Structure/Frame Materials
The structure of frame of an exhibition stand kiosk is not a single material, in fact it is a combination of 3 to 6 different materials. This not only save cost, but also offer more flexibility to meet your design needs. Everything above the floor is technically the structure of your exhibition stand kiosk, so choosing the right materials can greatly reduce the cost. Here are common structure materials:
- MDF: The most cost-effective and widely used material to build structure of exhibition stand kiosks, not only in the UAE but all around the world. It comes in various types, colored options are also available, it is easy to work with and it can reduce labor cost by a lot.
- Plywood: The plywood is used for structural strength, it is stronger than the MDF and have wood-like finishing which makes it the material of the choice for the exhibition kiosk stands and other such applications.
- Aluminum: The aluminum is ideal to build the frame and outer shell of the exhibition stand. It is also used where additional strength is required. The aluminum is cheap, easy to use, and offer great strength for exhibition stand kiosks.
- Glass: The glass is used for windows, shelves, and to enhance aesthetics. Glass is very cost-effective, a wide variety of glass is available.
- Acrylic: Where the glass elements are required and special cutting is needed, you can choose acrylic instead. It is easier to work with which makes it much more cost-effective alternate.
Finishing
Finishing is the most crucial element, no matter how expensive or high-quality materials you use, if your finishing is not done right, your entire exhibition stand kiosk will be undermined. There are various finishing types such as Raw, Roll Point, Printed Wraps or Vinyl Wraps, Plastic Lamination, Spray Paint, PVC Board, Wooden, PVC Boards, etc. If you are using a premium material and if you will apply vinyl wrap over it, it won’t be visible at all. That is why choose your finishing type carefully, and if you are having a finishing that will cover all material, then use the less expensive materials. Therefore it is important to align everything and make up a plan before executing it.
Incorporate Attractive Features to Attract the Attendees
One of the primary purpose of your design choice is to attract attendees from distance. Where you will exhibit, there would be more exhibiters, your design should offer something that attracts the attendees. Design elements such as colors, lightings, structural design, geometric and unique shapes, digital elements, and such things have great potential to attract attendees from a long distance. The colors psychology plays crucial role, for example, blue shows professionalism, red represents urgency or special offers, etc. It is very important to align your color choice with your brand personality and messaging. Usually the exhibitions are highly lit even if indoors, so lighting will play a crucial role in attracting attendees. You can chose a metal engraved logo with neon lights, or you can chose a backlit acrylic logo, both have huge difference in terms of price. Where the metallic logo look quite premium from close, the acrylic logos tend to attract more people from distance. You have to decide according to your objectives.
Integrating Digital Technologies for Higher Engagements
Technology always plays a crucial role in leaving a lasting impression on your visitors. Businesses tend to use various technology elements, the most common is the digital signage and interactive kiosks, which can deliver great user experience. Moreover businesses also leverage the remarkable potential of VR and AR. The VR or virtual reality and AR or augmented reality are advanced technologies which are most effective for product demos, visual presentations and engaging experience. Where the technology can be a great appeal for your audience, it is also important to ensure you don’t overdo it. If you 4 video walls at every side, multiple interactive kiosks, and other things, your most of the visitor are most likely to never interact with your staff. Moreover you should also have backup plans in form of printed materials and trained staff, in case if any problem occurs with you digital enhancements. Thus balancing between digital technology and traditional practices is also important.
Leveraging the True Potential of Graphics and Visual Messaging
Businesses often invest greatly in attracting audience, but it is the retention which is crucial for the success. You should not only focus on elements that attract attendees but you should be able to retain attentions of the visitors to extend their stay at your exhibition stand kiosk. This is where you can leverage your graphics and visual messaging to convey your brand story. Utilizing graphics and visuals is very cost-effective and it is still one of the most effective technique to enhance your brand. Businesses often start writing long stories on their graphics, however, in such exhibitions no one likes to read paragraphs. Using a very short, descriptive and cryptic messaging tend to be more effective than writing the full story. Utilizing QR Codes, digital media, and offering access to online personalized pages can be very effective along with the printed graphics. High-definition images, consistent fonts and branding looks more professional and elegant and tend to attract more people.
Pre-Designed vs. Customized Exhibition Stand Kiosk
When businesses decide to participate in exhibitions, especially the ones who are new to it, they always get confused with deciding between pre-designed and customized exhibition stand kiosks. As the name suggests, the pre-designed means the kiosks that are ready-made. These are general purpose, usually suitable for information booths or simple kiosks. Some exhibition stand kiosk manufacturer also offer modular designs and allow clients to choose form a range of ready-made modules to build a kiosk. Although this method is fairly quicker and simple, but it has a lot of limitations. Most of the time the modules are already been used, and there are always very limited choices which usually unable to fulfill your business needs.
The most ideal solution is to go for customized exhibition stand kiosks. The customization not only help you build unique designs but it will also help you to align your exhibition stand kiosk with your business, branding, and budgeting needs. The customized exhibition stand kiosks are tailored to align with your exhibition goals and objectives, which also help you gain a competitive advantage. If you want to ensure higher ROI which is very much depending on delivering a memorable visitor experience, then the customized exhibition stand kiosk is the ideal option. The ready-made or even pre-built modular designs can never deliver such value which customized designs can offer. This is why the customized exhibition stand kiosks are much superior then the pre-designed kiosks.
Conclusion
Businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and broader UAE knows the importance of participating in exhibitions, tradeshows, and such events. These events can provide a very powerful platform to present your brand to a highly targeted audience. Businesses participate in exhibitions to achieve a variety of strategic goals such as lead generation, product launches, brand awareness, or even expanding business network. The UAE in general is a very competitive market landscape, thankfully it also happen to be a global hotspot for the tourism and travel for both business and leisure. Thus the importance of choosing a right exhibition stand kiosk is paramount.
In this blog we have discussed various crucial factors that will help you chose the right exhibition stand kiosk for your next game-changing exhibition. The journey to a successful exhibition participation begins with setting up clear goals and objectives. Of course budgeting is one of the most crucial factor, but the smart choice of materials, and efficient use of space can help you save a lot of cost. The digital elements, aesthetics, graphics, and visual messaging elements can help you attract more attendees.
If you want to ensure a higher ROI of your exhibition stand kiosk, you should carefully consider all above mentioned crucial factors. If you want to learn more about the subject, or if you want our help to enhance and empower your exhibition participation with our customized design options, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
About Humayun Hashmi
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